Improved armament of ships of war



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTO ALBINI, OF GEIIOA, ITALY, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES HENDERSON.

IMPROVED ARMAMENT OF SHIPS OF WAR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,1 I3, dated November 15, 1864.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUSTO ALBINI, of Genoa, in the Kingdom of Italy, but at present residing at Birmingham, in the county of \Varwick, in England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ships ot' War and in arming Ships of \Va1; and I do hereby declare the following to be full, clear, and exa-ct description thereof, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which-- Figure l is a plan ot' the main or gun deck in the forward part of a ship constructed and armed aecordin g to my invention,an d having an odd number of guns. Fig. 2 is a plan of the main or gun deck in the `forward part of a ship, constructed and armed according to my invention, having au even number of guns. Fig. 3 is a side view of the afterpart ot' a ship, showing one mode of closing the ports. Fig. 4 is a side view of the forward part of a ship, showing other modes of closing the ports. Fig. 5 is a vertical crosssection showing the construction.

My invention and improvement consists in constructing and arming ships so that guns, more or fewer, according to the size and arma ment of the ship, may be red from the bow and stern in a direction parallel with the keel.

I make the hull of the ship from the keel to the main or gun deck the same as the hull of anordinaryship. Abovethemainorgun-deck,

4on each side of the ship, fore an d att, instead ot' having the ordinary curved bulwarks, l. construct a series of angular recesses or easements, as repretented at A, Figs. l and 2. These recesses or easements are formed by the intersection of vertical planes running alternately at right angles to and parallel with the keel oi' the ship. These angular recesses or easements, beginning at the bow and stern of the ship, either with one recess er easement, as represented in Fig. l, or with two, as represented in Fig. 2, extend on each side ofthe ship in the direction ofthe ships length to a distance depending upon the size of the ship and the number of guns required, one gun being situated in each of said recesses or easements. That side of each recess or easement which is transverse to the ships length, and through which the gun is tired, I protect with armor-plates six or seven inches in thickness, and that side of the recess or easement, which is parallel to the ships length I protect with thinner plates. The regular port-holes B are situated in the side ot' the recess or easement which is transverse to the ships length; but there may be port-holes through the other side of the recess, as represented at C, Fig. l, so as to allow the guns to be fired broadside when` required. The guns D inside the angular recesses or easements are mounted on carriages, which are worked on one side, as they are placed so close to the bulwarks as to allow room only for the limited training necessary to concentrate their lire. I prefer to mount the guns on sliding carriages, as they otter great facilities for working the guns on one side, and in a rough sea the guns can be placed on the ends of the slides, and the weight of the guns can thereby be brought more amidship. By these arrangements the weight of the armor and guus, instead of being near the outside of the ship, are bought nearer the center, and the tendency ot' the ship to roll is thereby diminished. By this arrangement the bow and stern are not overloaded, but the weight is uniformly distributed in the direction of the length of the ship. rIhe projecting stern under the water-line gives suiiieient buoyancy to the ship.

To preserve the outside shape of the ship when not i n action, I close the angular recesses with ports ot' the ordinary kind, or I arrange the ports so that they may be moved like a door and fold in and lie iiush with the longitudinal side ot the recess or easement, as represented at E, Fig. 2, 0r they may be arranged as represented at F, Fig. 4, or as represented at tr, Fig. 3, or these outer ports may be entirely dispensed with, and the upper -deck made to conform to the angular shape ot' the recesses or easements.

Instead ot' making the recesses or easements of an angular shape, the angles may be rounded oli", so as to give the recesses or casements an undulatory instead et' a rectangular ligure.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desiree to secure by Letters Patent, isf The construction and arrangement of the gun-deck and bulwarks of a ship inthe manner herein described, so that; guns may be fired from either the bow 0r the stern or from both at the same time in a direction-parallel with keel. 1

AUGUSTO ALBIN I.

Witnesses: THOMAS LAKE,

GEORGE F. WARREN, Both of No. 17 Graoechwch, Street, London. 

